Thanksgiving is a joyful time to celebrate with loved ones. At Oak Grove Center, we’ve been busy getting into the holiday spirit by brightening up the classrooms with seasonal decorations and playing holiday-themed games like Thanksgiving BINGO. Many students are making holiday-themed crafts like picture frames and table centerpieces to share with family members at home.
Later this week, students who are staying with us for the holiday will enjoy a family-style Thanksgiving dinner in the dorms (complete with a hot cocoa bar!) and get together for a movie night on Black Friday.
It’s our mission year-round to help young people build meaningful relationships. Cultivating a sense of belonging is especially important during the holiday season, particularly for youth who are spending holidays away from their families. That’s why these activities are more than just fun Thanksgiving traditions – they offer students creative ways to strengthen their bonds with each other, with the staff, and with their loved ones at home.
Thanksgiving is also a time to pause and reflect on what we are grateful for. We at Oak Grove Center are so grateful for you, our wonderful community of supporters. Your support has helped us reach more than 1,000 students this year with transformational programs and services. We have been able to continue favorite programs like Arts & Music, along with specialty programs like equine therapy, self-love workshops, and physical fitness training.
We were able to offer many enriching activities and supportive programs to our students this year. And we have even bigger plans for 2026 – including opening an activities office, expanding residential kitchen space, and providing more students with WASC-accredited educational programs at Jack Weaver School and Oak Grove at the Ranch.
Our biggest goal for next year is to make progress toward our new multi-purpose building. In honor of our late Board member, Adam Bouvet, the multi-purpose building will strengthen our mission to provide life-changing care for at-risk youth by expanding our facilities for partial hospitalization, cutting-edge treatments for depression, and more.
We could not do any of this without the generosity of you, our community. This Thanksgiving, we want to thank you for your continued support. From our Oak Grove Center family to yours, we wish you a happy, healthy Thanksgiving.